Xi's four observations on AI point out future direction, promote int'l cooperation: insiders

The four observations on artificial intelligence (AI) development and governance presented by Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday pointed out the direction for the future development and will promote international cooperation in the field, according to industry insiders.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the 2026 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in Shanghai, Xi called for carrying out extensive international cooperation on AI and helping Global South countries with capacity building.

"I think this [speech] is very insightful and very powerful because it rallies everyone -- the universities, companies and government -- to focus on what I think is a very important part of our future. So I think embracing AI and embracing it strongly is to our benefit," said Omar Yaghi, 2025 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.

"Do I agree that AI should be a public good for the whole people of the Earth? The answer is yes. I strongly believe that it should be used, it should be available to everyone who wants to use it. It should not be forced on anyone, but available to anyone. I strongly believe not specifically about AI, but about science and even beyond science. I strongly believe in importance of international collaboration," said Gilles Brassard, a Canadian computer scientist and recipient of the 2025 Turing Award.

"The four observations put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping systematically address major questions such as what AI relies on for innovation, who it serves, how to achieve open and win-win cooperation, and how to hold the security bottom line. As for our laboratory, we must further strengthen original innovation and achieve more technological breakthroughs," said Zhou Bowen, director and chief scientist of Shanghai's Pujiang AI Lab.

"These four important observations have pointed out a clear direction for our future development. We will follow this direction to step up efforts in deployment and improving AI and grassroots governance," said Wang Xingxing, founder and CEO of Unitree Robotics, a Chinese humanoid robot maker.

Xi's four observations on AI point out future direction, promote int'l cooperation: insiders

The Iranian armed forces announced on Saturday that they hit U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan in waves of retaliatory missile and drone attacks launched earlier the day.

The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement that its ground forces targeted the gathering place of U.S. forces at a backup center at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, killing a number of them.

Iranian forces also launched a drone attack that destroyed a radar system, a weapons depot and a hangar of drones at the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, the IRGC added.

In a post on X, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Saturday that two U.S. service members were killed and another remains missing after Iran's strikes on a base in Jordan on Friday.

The deaths bring the total number of U.S. military personnel killed to 16 since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Feb 28.

CENTCOM said on Friday that U.S. forces struck multiple military infrastructure targets and underground weapons storage facilities in Iran and were implementing a comprehensive naval blockade against Iran.

Iran said on Saturday that its armed forces destroyed a U.S. unmanned boat storage base in Bahrain and struck U.S. targets in Kuwait, Jordan and Syria.

The IRGC warned that if the United States continues to attack Iran's transportation infrastructure, Iran would launch larger-scale retaliation against U.S.-linked economic and technological assets.

As tensions between the two countries escalated, international crude oil futures closed up more than four percent on Friday, with New York crude oil futures returning above 80 U.S. dollars per barrel for the first time in a month.

Iran's armed forces claim hits on US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan in in retaliation